Diary Recipes

Smoky Paprika Tomato Soup

Tomato season is winding down, but there are still some available. The smoky paprika and pepper flavours add a rich, autumnal touch to this soup, and its getting cool enough that soups are starting to be welcome. This soup is quite intense in flavour, and some sour cream or yogurt would help make it a little more mellow.

I used 10 large field tomatoes to get 8 cups of diced tomatoes.

Note: Oops, I had a nagging feeling when I posted this that something was missing. There was. I have fixed it.

8 servings
30 minutes prep time



Mix the Spices:
1/4 cup soft unbleached flour
2 tablespoons sweet Hungarian paprika
1 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon hot smoked paprika
1 teaspoon rubbed oregano
1 teaspoon salt

Mix in a small bowl and set aside.

Make the Soup:
8 cups peeled, diced tomatoes
2 medium onions
1 or 2 sweet red frying peppers (optional)
2 to 3 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup mild vegetable oil
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup sugar

Blanch the tomatoes by dropping them into a pot of boiling water for one minute, then transfer them to a sink full of cold water. Peel them and remove the cores, then dice them coarsely.

Peel and chop the onions. Cored, deseed and chop the peppers if using. Red Shepherd, Jimmy Nardello or other sweet red frying pepper would be most appropriate. However, the soup is very good without them as well. Peel and chop the garlic.

Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the onions and peppers, and sauté over medium-high heat for several minutes, stirring regularly, until they are soft. Sprinkle the flour and spice mixture over and mix in well. Cook for about 5 minutes more, stirring frequently and scraping up the flour as it sticks to the pan and browns. The mixture should be dark, but not burnt. Add the garlic and cook it into the mixture for about a minute, until fragrant.

Add as many tomatoes to the pan as will easily fit. Blend well with the onion and spice mixture, scraping the pan to make sure there is none left sticking to it. Cook until the tomatoes are soft, about 5 to 10 minutes. If you cannot get all the tomatoes in the pan, put the rest of them into a soup pot and bring them to a boil. Simmer them as the rest of the soup cooks in the frying pan.

Blend the soup, including all the tomatoes, in a blender or food processor until very smooth with the vinegar and sugar. Reheat and serve. Very good with a bit of yogurt or sour cream.




Last year at this time I made Lancashire Hot Pot.